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Australia Day Challenge 2014: C’mon Aussie

G’day cobbers, how’re you going? Hope you’re feeling grouse. Australia Day is coming up so it’s time for another dinkum-Aussie challenge. Since quite a few of us are gearing up for the next Unlock the Past cruise, I thought I’d make it a quick and easy geneameme for those who wish to participate, eh.

Let’s see how deep your roots go into our Aussie soil. Do you have Australian Royalty?

If for you Australia Day is Survival Day, tell us your family’s story and show up our Johnny-come-lately status.

The geneameme comes in two parts: one to test whether your family is ridgey-didge and the second to show us how Australia runs in your veins, without any flag-waving and tattoo-wearing. Shout it out, be proud and make everyone wish they lived in this wide brown land of ours.

Feel free to add and subtract and even add a short story at the end. The world’s your oyster, so have a go! C’mon Aussie C’mon C’mon.

CLIMBING YOUR FAMILY’S GUM TREE

My first ancestor to arrive in Australia was:

I have Australian Royalty (tell us who, how many and which Fleet they arrived with):

I’m an Aussie mongrel, my ancestors came to Oz from:

Did any of your ancestors arrive under their own financial steam?

How many ancestors came as singles?

How many came as couples?

How many came as family groups?

Did one person lead the way and others follow?

What’s the longest journey they took to get here?

Did anyone make a two-step emigration via another place?

Which state(s)/colony did your ancestors arrive?

Did they settle and remain in one state/colony?

Did they stay in one town or move around?

Do you have any First Australians in your tree?

Were any self-employed?

What occupations or industries did your earliest ancestors work in?

Does anyone in the family still follow that occupation?

Did any of your ancestors leave Australia and go “home”?

NOW IT’S ALL ABOUT YOU

What’s your State of Origin?

Do you still live there?

Where was your favourite Aussie holiday place as a child?

Any special place you like to holiday now?

Share your favourite spot in Oz:

Any great Aussie adventure you’ve had?

What’s on your Australian holiday bucket list?

How do you celebrate Australia Day?

I’ve just realised that entirely coincidentally I came up with 26 questions for 26 January…how bizarre is that!

Feel free to post your responses any time in the coming week and I’ll collate them on the Australia Day holiday. Please leave a message about your post in the comments (WP.com doesn’t like linky lists). Otherwise use twitter tag #ozday2014. Thanks for joining in mate.

Thanks to Rebel Hand for inspiring me for the midnight inspiration to set up this challenge, following in the 2013 steps of Helen Smith and Shelley from Twigs of Yore in 2012 and 2011. ( Psst, there’s still scope for someone else to add another, non-geneameme, challenge for the day).

63 thoughts on “Australia Day Challenge 2014: C’mon Aussie”

I’m struggling to keep up with my own blog challenge and getting organised for the genealogy cruise but I can’t go past a geneameme and I’ve participated in previous Australia Day challenges – so count me in!

It’s all your fault of course Frances, after that midnight question. I’m sure you can come up with some answers to Part 2: we’ll let in the “odd” Pom or two ;-) you do after all have royalty so deference is required.

Great idea. I’m not remotely Australian (being from that other Country your cricket team love to annihilate at the moment) though my parents seriously considered emigrating back in the late sixties before I was born. Oh, so close. :)

Thanks for joining in Kylie…glad you enjoyed it. Originally I thought it was quick and easy then realised it had a few “curlers” in there. It’s fascinating to see the differences in family migration experiences.

I think this kind of cheating is a reasonable approach. I often go back and add to stories if something strikes me. After all I’m also recording the stories for my family. So pleased you could join in, as you’ve added another layer of immigrant experience.

Thank you Pauleen. I haven’t been blogging or researching for a while (yeah too much work) but I really enjoyed bringing together the information that I have into one post. Thank you and Happy Australia Day. Sharonhttp://shazlex.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/australia-day-challenge-2014.html
P.S I decided against going on the Genealogy Cruise this year (went last year) but now I am regretting that decision!

Yes I’m sorry you’re not coming too Sharon…never mind there’s only so much time and $$ to go around. Family history, blogging and life don’t always fit together well…the latter tends to get in the way. Never mind, there’s always another day.

I have updated my summary to include the journey duration. Longest seems to be a 13 month trading trip my great great grandfather Henry William Wardle took as crew member of the cargo ship Avondale (430 tons) from Gothenburg Sweden to Port Melbourne, via South Africa, trading along the way. He’d been at sea since he was 13 and arrived in Melbourne at the age of 30.

The other journeys range from 121 days (another crew member) down to 50 days in 1921.
Very interesting analysis exercise. (I love stats)

Thanks for the update Jenni….13 months!! That has to be a record I would think. I’ve been surprised how the length was sometimes longer despite it being a later journey…shows the significance of the weather.

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